Summer League #6: James' Fort Tuesday June 17th Results and Report

The historic setting of James’ Fort in Kinsale was the destination for the sixth event in the Cork Orienteering Club summer league. This pretty sea side hamlet is always a very popular location with plenty of both onshore and offshore activities taking place in the surrounds. The amazing weather on Tuesday evening meant people were congregating in the region all day so by the time our orienteering event got started the area was already very busy and there was a real energetic holiday buzz about the place.More records were broken again this week. Firstly, we had record temperatures and sun cream was definitely a requirement for orienteering on this exposed area on Tuesday evening as there were very few opportunities to avail of any shade on the courses. Secondly, we raised the bar yet again on our attendance record with a massive 149 participants at the event. It was brilliant to see so many families and competitors of all ages enjoying orienteering in the summer sun. The steep inclines didn’t deter many of our regular buggy-O competitors. We were particularly delighted to welcome a great number of players, coaches and families from Sliabh Rua Camogie club who took a break from their hard training to try out the sport of orienteering before enjoying a nice family get together and BBQ on the beach. We hope you enjoyed the orienteering and your post run gathering.

There are really not enough superlatives to describe how magnificent this area looked on Tuesday evening. The blue skies, calm clear blue seas and fabulous evening sunshine accentuated the stunning views of the fort and its environs. These were perfect conditions for the launch of our Summer League photo competition and we’re looking forward to seeing pics from your adventures in James’ Fort. As usual we’ve added our own photos from the event to the Gallery page of our website. If you missed the event or didn’t take the time to appreciate the outstanding views on the night you can check them out here.

The compact nature of the area meant the courses were going to cover most of the terrain available. Luckily the grass on the open hill side was recently mowed which made traversing it a good deal easier than it could have been. However, the soaring temperatures meant that this hilly terrain was more gruelling than usual. The only incentive with running up these hills was the inevitable downhill on the other side. There is a sense of wildness and antiquity about the locale and the courses provided ample opportunities to savour this with controls around the pentagonal Fort, its spear sharped earthen Bastions, the blockhouse and the beach. The Short course took participants on a clockwise loop around the terrain and encompassed a number of controls around the ancient fort. Control 11 on this course offered great vistas of nearby Charles Fort and of a navy ship docked out in the harbour. The planner ensured the Long course offered competitors plenty of route choice from the start. The very first control forced them to select a route to the fort with options to go right, left and even directly up a steep earthen bastion. In sprint events such as this, one can’t afford to waste time procrastinating over which route really is the shortest you must simply pick one and run as every second counts. Leg 8-9 posed similar route options to control one but in the opposite direction it will be interesting to compare the splits on these legs. Legs 1-2, 6-7 and 7-8 offered routes through the infamous tunnels and thankfully there were no incidents reported by participants who elected to take these routes. The smell of the sea certainly would have stimulated ones olfactory receptors at control five.

The last control on both courses was located on the beach which given the terrific weather was particularly crowded on the day forcing competitors to weave their way around those basking in the evening rays. Following the last control the sprint to the finish was probably one of the most congested tracks and required careful manoeuvring around those coming and going to the beach.

The heat combined with the strenuous courses had most pretty fatigued on reaching the finish and the water that was free to all finishers was very refreshing and most welcome. Having had a chance to recover the post run analysis was conducted while enjoying some scrumptious ice-cream which was also free to all who competed. No doubt this helped everyone forget about any mistakes they may have made on the course.It was very difficult not to be distracted by the panoramic views presented everywhere you looked on Tuesday evening from the vast expanse of the Bandon river to the tranquil views over Kinsale Harbour, not to mention the spectacular Charles Fort. Despite this the results would indicate that many remained focused on the task at hand.

The high temperatures, hilly terrain and 73 other competitors on the Long course could not prevent Cillin Corbett from obtaining his hat trick of summer league event wins. Having re-mapped this area last year he is very familiar with every detail of this map and this knowledge stood to him on the night. This combined with another impressive run meant he punched all 15 controls in just 16 minutes and 57 seconds and took yet another event win. Cillin wasn't prepared to gift his Dad Brian a belated Father’s Day present of a Summer League event win so Brian had to be content with second place. Brian finished in a time of 18:38 a meagre twenty seconds clear of third place finisher Conrad Daly.

Elaine Sheridan jumped two podium places from last week and in the process claimed the title of fastest Lady around James’ Fort. She completed the 2.6km course in a time of 24:51. Sharon Lucey was runner up on the evening finishing the course in a time of 26:31. Third place on the day went to Trishia O’Mahony with a course time of 27:43.

Of the 75 competitors on the Short course it was Daniel Lordan who led the way and achieved the event win when he punched all 15 controls on this 1.6km course in a time of 18:51. It was a close contest between the McIIreavy brothers for the final two podium spots. Ken’s time of 20:44 secured him the runners up place by a margin of just 22 seconds over his brother Callum.

Well done to all who competed on the day. Full individual results and splits are available here.

We would like to extend an enormous thanks to Ben Gearey for planning the event. This was Ben’s first time planning an orienteering event and I’m sure you would all agree he did a fantastic job. Thanks also to Rob McEvoy for controlling the event and to Sinead O’Donoghue and Jim O’Donovan for taking care of entries on the night. Thanks also to Dave and Frances O’Donovan for taking charge of starts and to Conrad Daly for his assistance with control collection.

Gerald Duffy deserves thanks for arranging to have Mister Softee from Glanmire Ices on site who provided us with some very tasty ice-creams following our exhausting runs.

Please note that a sum of money and a set of head phones were found on the course if you misplaced either please do get in touch. Unfortunately, someone also lost their SI card after they finished so if you happened to find it the owner would be very grateful if you could hand it in at registration at our next event. Following on from all the excitement of James’ Fort the next event in this year’s Summer League will take us to Moabaun Wood near Watergrasshill. The “White Bog” is a popular hangout for the midge so if you tend to be a tasty treat for these pesky little critters you might want to come prepared to do battle with them. Further information and directions are available here.

Hope to see you there,